Madar (Niamey) - Niger's authorities have temporarily banned, barring official authorisation, fuel sales to the public at filling stations every day from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m., starting Monday, 19 October 2026, except at stations designated to stay open, according to a joint statement by the interior, petroleum and commerce ministers carried by the official Niger Press Agency (ANP).
The temporary arrangement "aims to facilitate deliveries and the resupply of filling stations, notably by the Niger Petroleum Company (SONIDEP), in order to improve the flow of operations, the safety of deliveries and the availability of products at the pump", the statement said.
Duty stations will be designated in each urban or rural district, with their list, addresses and hours to be announced by the relevant services. Selling fuel in jerrycans outside filling stations is also banned in all localities with at least one station, and the defence and security forces have been instructed to enforce the measures.
The decisions followed a meeting between the governor of the Niamey region, the city's delegated administrator and SONIDEP's director general. The ministers called on the public "to show understanding and civic spirit".
The move comes as the shortage has reached the capital, with news site ActuNiger reporting long queues around filling stations and soaring black-market prices. Madar previously reported the petrol crisis reaching Niamey and, before that, Niger's ban on gasoline and diesel exports.
